The Pact
by JackChloeFan
Summary: Set in no season particular. Very dark and angsty story. Chloe and Jack have made an agreement, a pact, that they remain friends even after being something else in the past. Jack is married to Audrey, mainly because they share a son.


"Why was he here? Why do I find you two together all the time?"

"We work together, Keith. I can't really well not be around him."

"Does working together suggest him visiting you at your apartment late at night?"

Chloe exhaled, clearly frustrated that they were fighting about Jack, again. She walked away from him to the kitchen, to where he followed her. She started making herself some tea.

"Keith, I have told you this a million times. Jack and I are only friends now. There's nothing going on between us"

"Don't lie to me" and all of a sudden he pushed her against the kitchen cabinet.

Chloe was clearly taken aback by his sudden anger but tried to calm him down "I'm not lying, I swear. Everything that Jack and I once had is over and has been for a long time."

"But you would take him back, if he wanted you to?" And the man she's been living with for the last 6 months, steps closer to her, eyeing her like she was some kind of a criminal. She could smell alcohol in his breath and that surprised her because he was a recovering alcoholic. Chloe hadn't known him long enough to know what he was like when he had been drinking and when that realization hit her she grew upset which she tried to hide from Keith.

"No, of course not, I'm with you now, remember?" She walked away from him leaving him contemplating what she had just said.

When he turned around to face her, he saw that she had a phone in her hand and was dialing a number.

There was only one person she wanted to call and she hoped she could do that before things got out of hand. But what happened next was too fast for her to understand it fully. She felt pain in her mouth and her head as it hit something hard. She felt being thrown up against the wall and falling down. She felt being beaten to face and stomach until she couldn't take it anymore and passed out.

JCJCJC

Jack was working late in CTU New York. He was in his office, doing some paperwork. There was a knock on the door and a beautiful brunette walked in.

"Jack, Audrey is on line 2."

"You told her I was here?"

"Well, yeah, I didn't know what to say to her."

Jack exhaled. "Ok, Kate, tell her that I am really busy but I'll be home in an hour, ok?"

"Ok, as you wish."

"Thank you."

Kate left and closed the door. Jack started to get his things together, shoving some papers in his briefcase, while leaving others on the table for Kate to pick up. He heard a knock on the door again and looked to see that it was Kate again.

"Tell her that I'm already leaving and I won't be long."

"It's not your wife this time," and her expression was very serious and a little bit scared. And Jack knew the look; the look he had seen on the faces of so many people when they were afraid of him, of what he was capable of. And that was enough to make him anxious.

"I just got a call from Lennox Hill hospital. It's Chloe." Her voice was almost a whisper when she finished.

"Chloe… " He choked, not expecting it to be about her, as he just saw her alive and well. "In a hospital? Why? What happened to her?" He was visibly upset by the news and that frightened Kate even more. She didn't answer right away.

"Kate…spit it out" He stepped closer to her, his tone gone up a notch.

Her voice was still a whisper when she continued, "She was beaten up. She's in a critical condition… But they are optimistic that she pulls through."

She could hardly finish when he was already out the door.

JCJCJC

Jack ran through the corridors searching for her room. When he found the room he was looking for and was about to go in, a man in a white coat put his hand on his arm to stop him.

"Excuse me, who are you?"

"My name is Jack Bauer. I'm here to see Chloe O'Brian. I'm…a friend of hers."He said with a certain amount of determination."Why are you asking? Isn't she allowed to have visitors?"

"No, no, it's not that. It's just that the police is not here yet and I have orders not let her boyfriend in till then. I just needed to ID you."

Jack had a hard time restraining his anger. "He did this?"

"That's what the police thinks, yes. Her neighbor found her, but she hasn't regained consciousness yet to confirm it. All of his belongings appeared to be gone when the police checked her apartment." He paused, letting the information sink in for Jack. "I'm sorry but I have to check on her now. When I finish, you can see her. "

"Ok, thank you, doctor" He walked away and dialed a number.

"I need a favor."

JCJCJC

When he got off the phone, the doctor came out of her room.

"Doctor, how is she?"

"Her condition is still critical, but I believe she's going to pull through."

"Ok, thank you, doctor"

The doctor walked away and Jack stared at the direction of her room, afraid to go in, not ready for the sight he'd be witnessing. But when he did get himself together and stepped in the room, he knew…He knew that nothing could have prepared him for the sight he then witnessed.

To say that she was in a bad shape would be the understatement of the year. She was hooked to a tubes and machines that kept her alive. Her face was so swollen he could barely recognize her. There were visible bruises on her hands and arms. At that moment his heart broke but he knew he couldn't break down just yet. There was something that needed to be taken care of first and as if on cue, his phone vibrated.

"Yeah" He answered his phone with a gruff voice.

"Ok, I have the information you wanted" said the voice on the other end of the line.

"Good"

"Keith Richards is currently at the airport and is waiting for a flight to London. His plane leaves in half an hour."

"And the NYPD doesn't have that information yet?"

"No."

"Ok, good, thank you."

"You owe me one, Jack."

"Yeah, I know," he said and hung up the phone. He looked at her for a moment longer, stepped closer to her and went down to plant a kiss on her cheek.

"I'm going to make it right, I promise" he whispered softly. "He's going to wish that he was never even born."

He looked at her, his face only inches from hers as a single tear ran down his cheek.

"I love you." And with that he left the room.

When he left, Chloe opened her eyes and stared into space, having clearly heard everything he had just said.

JCJCJC

Few days later, Chloe's condition was better and the doctor allowed her to be questioned by the police.

"So, you have no idea where he might have gone, Ms O'Brian?"

"No, not really. He didn't have much of a family. I know he had some relatives in Miami, but I don't think he would have went there."

The two detectives were writing it down and when she finished, they had what they needed from her.

One of them said, "Alright, that's all. Thank you."

"Thank you. I hope you find him. I'm sorry that I couldn't be more helpful," she said with a regretful tone of voice that was sincere as all she could think about was how she could fall for him and not see the signs of violence in him sooner. Jack had warned her that something was off with him, but she being stubborn just didn't take him seriously.

The detectives were about to leave, when one of them got a phone call. When he ended the call, the two detectives whispered something and then they turned back to Chloe.

"Ms O'Brian," one of them started, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but the man you were living with, Keith Richards, has been found. He's dead."

Chloe was shocked even though she could have anticipated that when Jack left her room the other day, promising to make him pay. She guessed that part of her hoped that he meant to hurt him badly and not actually kill him, but that's not how Jack operates when someone hurts his loved ones. And she let out a sigh at that thought, even feeling sorry for Keith.

"Oh god… How? Do you know who did it?"

"There were other marks on his body, but the fatal wound seems to be a shot in the head. We have no suspects, yet. But it happening right after what he did to you, makes us believe that it's someone who wanted to make him pay for what he did to you. So do you have any idea who it might be? Someone who'd go through that trouble for you?"

"For me? Are you kidding me? I mean I'm just a computer nerd who works with computers. I don't have many friends or family members. Least of all the type who'd actually commit a homicide to protect me…or for whatever reason. No, I don't know any murderers personally, " she finishes bluntly.

"Ok, thank you for your co-operation. Don't leave the city, we might have some questions."

And with that they left. And they were not gone for long before the sound of a familiar voice is heard in Chloe's room.

"You know one."

"Jack," Chloe started when she saw him at the door of her room, but didn't really know what to say. She wasn't really angry with him , but didn't want to let him off the hook that easily either, "What one? What are you talking about?"

Jack came closer, sat on the side of her bed, took her hand is his and got closer to her.

"You know one murderer personally," and he smiled.

"That's really funny, Jack." But Chloe didn't even smile as she obviously meant it to be sarcastic with a hint of anger.

"I care about you too much to let this son of a bitch live," was all he could say as his expression turned serious again.

"I care about you, too, but I don't go around New York killing your ex-lovers, do I?"

"He wasn't just your ex-lover, he violated y-" but he couldn't finish because Chloe had put her hand on his mouth to silence him.

"I know," and she looks him straight in the eye, "We're past that, now, OK!?"

Jack didn't answer. He just looked at her for a second and then went down to hug her. After a minute or so he pulled away slightly and looked at her with their faces just an inch apart. He knew that he was a married man, that he had to pull away from her, that it wasn't right, but he just couldn't resist the urge. So he did what he knew would make him feel bad for going against his values and principles – he went for a hungry kiss that Chloe returned just as passionately.

Jack let his hands run free, but when his hand cupped her breast, she suddenly pushed his hand away and broke the kiss. "We can't do this, Jack. That's not who we are."

Jack pulled away and stood up, turned his back on her and walked toward the window, clearly frustrated, both from being denied the one thing he wanted above all and because he knew she was right. The main reason they trusted themselves to continue their relationship as friends, was the fact that they are both not the kind of people who take cheating easily. They had made a pact that they would remain friends and only friends. And they had been doing so great since breaking off and him marring Audrey. So great that it was almost like before. Before Jack realized the depth of his feelings for Chloe. Before they started to be something more. But now he realized what a pretense it all has been. He was still totally in love with her.

"Jack, I think you should leave. Audrey is probably worried already…" She trailed off when she saw him suddenly turn to face her.

"You are right," he started, his voice hoarse. "We can't do this," he pauses and Chloe feels both relieved and sad at the same time, that he agrees with her. But then he walked towards her bed, sat down at her bedside and continued looking straight at her, his face unreadable and his voice so serious, "We can't continue lying to each other, to Audrey and to the rest of the world."

"What are you talking about?" said Chloe, feeling a slight discomfort when Jack's eyes are at her, not turning away once.

"Chloe, I'm talking about us." Jack took her hand in his and continued, "I'm talking about this. Our love."

Chloe turned away from him and stared at the distance, feeling slightly upset that he still hadn't let it go. "Jack, please, don't do this now. We have talked about this. You agreed. You yourself said that that you don't want your child to grow up with two homes and a broken family. So, please-"

She couldn't finish because his lips were on hers, pulling her to him, demanding an entry to her mouth with his tongue and she obeyed him like she always had obeyed his orders. His right hand went to cup her right breast and this time she didn't push him away. Instead she moaned and let him have his wicked ways with her.

After that they just lay there in her hospital bed, Jack's hands tightly wrapped around her.

"Chloe," he smiled at her a little and continued," When I said that I didn't want my child to grow up in a broken family, I described an ideal situation. I meant that the parents should try their best to fix their relationship before breaking up. I talked about us." And then he smiled broadly at her, while she still looked confused. "I told you that because I wanted you to know that if we had a child together that when things got difficult, I wanted us to try our absolute best to fix us. Not that you should shove me off to live in a loveless marriage," his voice a little disappointed at the last sentence. Not disappointed at her, but disappointed that things have turned up like that.

"Jack," and now her eyes filled with water, "What are we going to do?"

He couldn't answer because his phone rang. It was Audrey. He stood up from the bed and walked to the window and then answered the phone.

"Jack," Audrey cried, "You have to come now. Matthew is sick. I'm in the hospital with him now."

"What the hell happened to him," Jack almost yelled which alerted Chloe that something was very wrong.

"I don't know. He was fine until couple of hours ago when he got a fever and I couldn't get it down so I called an ambulance and now his condition has only worsened."

"Oh my god," he turned to Chloe for a second who looked at him confused and then turned his back on her when finishing the conversation, "I'll be right there."

He shut his phone and walked to the bed and started to gather his belongings.

"Audrey called. It's about my son. He's in the hospital. It's serious. I have to go," his voice almost a whisper.

"Oh my god," said Chloe, who was totally taken aback by the news, "Yeah, of course you have to go. We'll talk later."

"Yeah…" said Jack when giving Chloe one last glance before leaving. They both felt worried about his son but couldn't shake the feeling that things were not going turn up like they thought just 5 minutes ago.


End file.
